Arab MK: Patriarchs were Muslim, not Jewish

Arab MK who called Jews ‘prophet killers’ strikes again with statement saying Biblical patriarchs were Muslim.

By Maayana Miskin

First Publish: 10/10/2013, 4:07 PM

MK Sarsour (left)

Flash 90

The Biblical patriarchs of the Jewish nation actually practiced Islam, MK Ibrahim Sarsour (Ra’am Ta’al) has claimed in a new statement.

Sarsour made headlines last week for declaring that Jews are “prophet murderers” in response to a joke in an Israeli paper about immaculate conception.

In his latest statement, Sarsour condemned remarks made by Ministers Naftali Bennett and Uri Ariel about Israel’s rights to Judea, Samaria and the Temple Mount, saying that there was proof in the Koran that there is no Jewish connection to these areas.

According to Sarsour, the Koran “proves without a doubt” that Abraham was a “Muslim” and that Isaac and Jacob were “hanifs” who “submitted” to Allah.

Hanif is an Islamic term for pre-Koranic figures who rejected idolatry in favor of monotheism.

Support for Terror

This is not the first time Sarsour has courted controversy.

He has met with several Arab terrorists who are currently serving time in Israeli prisons for murder, including senior Hamas leader Abbas Al-Sayed. Al-Sayed was involved in several attacks, including the notorious Park Hotel massacre in which 30 Jews were murdered as they took part in a Passover seder.

His comments come not long after Sarsour’s fellow party member MK Ahmed Tibi provoked public anger in Israel, after declaring that Jews have no right to visit the Temple Mount - the site of the First and Second Temples, and Judaism's holiest site.

“The Al-Aqsa mosque is a place of prayer for Muslims alone,” said Tibi, who also declared that Muslims must not allow Jews to “contaminate” the site.

Tibi also said that Jerusalem – Israel’s capital city, and the home of the Knesset he serves in – will become a Muslim city in the future, ending what he termed “the Israeli occupation.”

Other Arab MKs have been the focus of controversy as well. MK Jamal Zahalka of the Balad party has referred to Israeli policy as “apartheid,” and in April 2013 refused to condemn a terrorist’s slaying of an unarmed Jewish father-of-five, saying, “Settlers have no right to self-defense.”